Voter turnout feeds democracy; shows people care

The death of Osama bin Laden might have overshadowed the news reports of today’s federal election, but it hasn’t slowed down the buzz on the streets. I can’t remember the last time a federal election was so exciting. People are actually going out of their way to vote.

There was a lineup to get into my polling station, shortly after noon. I live in Calgary Centre North, the one riding in the city that is an open race, to replace popular Conservative MP Jim Prentice.

His are big shoes to fill, for sure. It’s heartening to see voter turnout up across Calgary. The tone seemed to be set during the advanced polls. Preliminary result estimates indicated 50,707 Calgarians voted in advanced polls, up from 33,467 in 2008. That’s up more than 50 per cent.

Across the province, the preliminary results increased to roughly 149,407 compared to 102,885 in the advanced polls in 2008; a difference of about 36 per cent. And this is the province where the results are supposedly a foregone conclusion, and that has seen the least election activity in the country.

Way to go Calgary and Alberta. We understand that every vote counts. Casting a ballot is a privilege to be exercised, especially today on the heels of the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and their affiliates. Bin Laden attacked our western democratic ways and tried to crush our freedoms. Voting is the way of quietly fighting back, and feeding the health of our electoral system and ultimately strengthening our democracy.

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